Mason Greenwood got his permanent exit from Manchester United this summer after Ineos decided he had no way back at the club.
Mason Greenwood was once the most promising young talent at Carrington, however, that was all halted upon his arrest in 2022 – this led to suspension while the investigation was concluded.
Charges were dropped against him in February 2023, and the academy graduate enjoyed a successful return to football last season on loan for Getafe in La Liga.
Due to this, there were some serious suitors for his signature in the summer.
Clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Lazio, Juventus and even Barcelona showed an interest before Greenwood was ultimately snapped up by Marseille in Ligue 1 for a fee of £26.6m with a future buy-back option included.
Since then, Greenwood has been impressive and was labelled as ‘magnificent’ after scoring his first goal for the club.
Since then in Ligue 1, Greenwood has scored five goals in three games, lauded by Roberto de Zerbi in the process as being ‘exceptional’.
Now, the president of Marseille has shared his thoughts on the deal which was completed despite controversy.
Pablo Longoria issues verdict on Mason Greenwood deal
Greenwood was Marseille’s marquee signing during the summer and replaced Ismaila Sar who moved to Crystal Palace. Already they will feel the deal justified as he has caught fire in the league.
However, prior to the deal being completed, there was plenty of backlash with the mayor of Marseille labelled the move as being unacceptable after the links became public.
But this did not stop the French side and now the club president Pablo Longoria has spoken out on the deal at the Thinking Football Summit as quoted by the BBC.
“The comments of the mayor reinforce what we did, [they did] not have all the information.
“We took the decision internally. OK, there was some opposition, that was objective, but at the same time that gave us the power to maybe not investigate, because I am not a judge, but to use all the information to make the best decision, which I think we did.”
Longoria then continued to declare that the deal was one discussed on day one with De Zerbi: “In our very first conversation with the coach [Roberto de Zerbi], we mentioned Mason’s name.
“The coach knew Mason from the past and it was a very quick conversation at the start between all of us because we believe in the talent of Mason.
“There were a lot of conversations between all of us in the weeks leading up to his move. He is behaving fantastically with us and we are very happy to have him playing in our team.”
Manchester United will be watching on keenly
Despite Ineos deciding Greenwood had to leave the club this summer, the club will be watching his form in France with interest for a few reasons.
Manchester United retain a buy-back clause for the forward, as unlikely as that is to be triggered right now or in the near future it does give the club a reason to pay interest in his development.
On top of this, 50 per cent of any profit Marseille receive from selling on Greenwood will go into the pockets of the Red Devils.
So after a lightning start to life in France, chances are one of these two clauses could come in very handy and see that £26.6m fee added to even more.
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